


A Meeting in Central Park

by Welcome_to_Latveria



Series: Quicksilver Week 2020 [4]
Category: All New X-Factor, Avengers (Comics), Marvel, Marvel 616
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Feels, Happy Ending, Pietro Maximoff Feels, this is just a nice story basically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25000834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welcome_to_Latveria/pseuds/Welcome_to_Latveria
Summary: Pietro's daughter Luna is staying with him for the weekend and she has missed a few key events since he last saw her - namely that he is in a relationship with his fellow Avenger, Synapse.
Relationships: Emily Guerrero/Pietro Maximoff, Lorna Dane & Pietro Maximoff, Luna Maximoff & Pietro Maximoff
Series: Quicksilver Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1804165
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	A Meeting in Central Park

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Quicksilver Week on Tumblr. 
> 
> Day 7 - Free Day
> 
> This is a sequel of sorts to the fic I wrote for Day 3 (Making a Home) but I'm sure it's easy enough to read if you haven't read that one.

Pietro is not sure why he bothered to plan this day out – which he did, by the way, very meticulously – because he should have known his plan would be thrown out of the window within hours of the day beginning.

It all started in his apartment two days ago.

Luna – his daughter – was staying with him for the weekend and no sooner had she entered the apartment and put her bag in her room had Georgia pounced on her and spilled all of Pietro’s secrets.

“Luna, you’ll _never_ guess what has happened since you’ve been away!” had been the words that came out of Georgia’s mouth and the words that had sent Pietro into a near heart attack because God only _knows_ what the girl would come out with.

His daughter – to her credit – had not been fazed by her best friend’s excitement and had responded in equal enthusiasm. “Tell me everything!”

So the two girls had flounced onto Pietro’s sofa.

Georgia recounted how they now have a new member of their household – Jeanne Foucault, Finesse – and how the girl was older than them and was sort of an Avenger. “She’s a bit stand-offish,” Georgia had said. “But I guess that’s why she and Pietro get on so well. And her powers are _so_ cool! She can do literally anything if she only sees it done once! Like she watched a video on YouTube about how to braid my hair and she saw it only once and then like an hour later she did my hair for me in exactly the right way from the video without even watching it again! Not even _Pietro_ can do that!”

Luna had seemed fascinated by this ability too, though Pietro wasn’t sure if this had been because she could see the actual potential of Jeanne’s abilities or because she was already thinking along Georgia’s lines and wanted the older girl to do her hair too. “That _does_ seem pretty cool.”

“I know, right!” And then Georgia had gasped and grabbed onto Luna’s arm as if she had just seen a prophetic vision. “I can’t believe I left out the most important part!” and then she had glanced at Pietro almost evilly and that’s when he knew he was _really_ in for it. “Pietro has a _girlfriend_!”

Luna’s gasp could have silenced an entire football stadium. Her eyes had lit up and she and Georgia had then exchanged a tirade of whispers that went too fast for even him to make sense of. They did this all whilst slapping each other gently to get each other’s attention and dissolving into giggles and looking at him every so often from the corner of their eyes before laughing some more.

Naively, he had hoped that would be the end of it.

The next morning – as if to beat into him how stupid his hope had been – he was accosted at breakfast by Luna and Georgia. 

“So, when can we meet your girlfriend?” Luna had said, smiling innocuously as if she was in fact a little angel and not a devilish teenager in disguise.

“You can’t.” He had replied.

Georgia had pouted. “Why not?”

 _Because Emily is under the impression I have only one daughter and the last thing I need is to turn up and meet her with three teenage girls trailing after me like I am some sort of mother hen._ “Because I said so,” he said, instead.

Speaking of three teenage girls, Jeanne had then joined in. “Pietro has a girlfriend?” she had said, surprised, her hand paused in mid-air where she had been buttering her toast.

“Yep!” Georgia had said, and then pulled her phone out and showed Jeanne something Pietro couldn’t see because they were both on the other side of the kitchen counter from him.

“She’s pretty,” Jeanne had acknowledged, and then had passed the phone to Luna who had been clamouring to see too.

Pietro was beyond confused. “Where did you get a picture of her from?”

Georgia looked at him as if he was dumb. “The family group chat, _duh_.”

“The _what_?”

“Well, I guess it’s not _technically_ a family group chat,” Georgia had said, contemplating. “But it has me and Tommy and Billy and Viv so it’s like basically the same thing.” Her eyes lit up in remembrance, “Oh! That reminds me – I need to add Luna and Jeanne to it too!”

She waved at Luna for her phone back, but Pietro plucked it out of her hand before she could return it.

The phone was open on an app Pietro did not recognise but was one that was clearly used for messaging. At the top of the chat – or rather the top of the part of the chat that was visible – was a message from Tommy that asked whether _“uncle Pete had a gf or something cos I heard mom mention a girl called Emily.”_ The reply had been from Georgia which was just _“what”_ but in all caps and with several exclamation and question marks. Viv – who he remembers Nadia Van Dyne mentioning was the Vision’s daughter – then had replied _“perhaps your mother was referring to the Avenger called Synapse?”_ Then Viv had sent some photographs of Emily – one of them had evidently been taken on a mission as she was in uniform and Pietro was carrying her in his arms the way he carries people when he runs. The other two were taken out of uniform; one when the two of them had gone out for a meal fairly recently and an older one taken from the first time he had taken Emily out a few months ago.

“Where did she get these from?” he’d asked, surprised.

Georgia had shrugged. “I dunno – she’s an android, isn’t she? She probably got them from CCTV cameras or social media – she’s cool like that.” She looked at him, “Can I have my phone back, please.”

Scowling, he had returned it to her but of course that had not been the end of their meddling.

Luna had turned to him with wide eyes and had pleasantly asked, “ _Please_ dad, I really would like to meet this Emily.” And then, “Mom introduces me to everyone _she_ dates.” His daughter, of course, is an expert manipulator and most of the time does not even need to rely on her powers to get Pietro to do whatever she wants.

“Fine,” he had allowed. “But _only_ you.”

Georgia had looked quite betrayed, but Pietro had gone back to eating his breakfast – foolishly thinking that the matter had been settled – and because he had looked away he had missed the look between Luna and Georgia which would have warned him that they were not about to listen to his wishes.

And all because he had not paid attention, he is now standing in Central Park with his daughter waiting for Emily to arrive and realising in horror that Georgia has followed him here – and she is not alone. No, she has also brought his nephew Thomas and his younger sister Lorna. Jeanne is also there, though to her credit she looks reluctant to be so.

“Hey uncle Pete!” Thomas greets, zipping over to him and leaving the others behind.

He gives his nephew a look. “My name is Pietro – as you well know – and for the love of God _please_ refrain from using your powers in public like that.”

“Why?”

“Because the last thing I need is for some madman getting word of superheroes in Central Park and coming and attacking us.” _Because already my plans have been derailed and I do not need anymore chaos._

“Whatever you say, uncle Pete,” Thomas grins at him and Pietro closes his eyes in exasperation – truly he is cursed. “Billy woulda come but he’s busy with his _fiancé_.” Thomas rolls his eyes as he says that, and Pietro finds the annoyance he has at his nephew lessening. He knows that Thomas is relatively lonely in comparison to his more well-adjusted brother – a story Pietro is all too familiar with – and must be glad to spend a day with people who he is friendly with.

“Well then, I am glad it is just you,” he says to Thomas with a generous smile, and his nephew’s eyes sparkle secretly as if he does not want to betray a gladness that someone prefers him over his brother. “Though I do have to question your decision to bring my sister.”

“Oh, that was Georgia’s idea,” Thomas has no problem throwing the younger teenager under the bus.

“Of course it was,” Pietro sighs and when Georgia and Lorna catch up to where they are waiting, he directs a fierce look at her. “Georgia – I _told_ you that only Luna was supposed to come today!”

She looks at the ground. “I didn’t want to be left out…”

He sighs. “Georgia, the reason I only wanted Luna here today was because I didn’t wish to overwhelm Emily – and because Luna is only here for the weekend, whereas you could meet Emily at any other time.” He makes a displeased face, “And now she will be confronted with half the family, instead.”

Georgia flushes slightly at the word _family_ and shifts uncomfortably under his gaze. “Sorry Pietro, I guess I just got ahead of myself…”

“It’s okay,” he relents quickly, because he doesn’t like to see her so subdued and also because he is weak-willed in the face of teenage-girls in need of a father-figure. “We’ll just have to deal with it, it’s fine.”

And then he turns to Lorna who had so far stayed quiet, observing the two of them. “It is good to see you, little sister.” He kisses her cheek, and she waves him away.

“No need to be so formal, Pietro,” she says, rolling her eyes. “And no need to remind me I’m the baby of the family.”

“Ah, but that is what older brothers do,” he tells her with a smile. He really is glad to see Lorna again – he hasn’t had much contact with her since he left X-Factor – and he wants to tell her in person that he regrets leaving the team, because he had enjoyed working alongside her. But he keeps quiet for now.

“Pietro?”

He turns around – and so does everyone else – and he sees Emily standing there looking slightly shocked.

She is as pretty as she always is – her dark hair down around her shoulders for once and her brown eyes bright and sparkling. Today she is wearing a red summer dress and sandals and she is staring at Pietro as if he is slightly insane. _It will only be Luna and I_ ; he had told her. And now it is him, Luna, Georgia, Jeanne, Thomas and Lorna.

“Ah,” he says, awkwardly, “hello Emily… please believe me when I say I did not mean to accost you with so many people today.”

“It’s true,” Georgia pipes up in his defence. “We invited ourselves – I mean… except for Luna who was _actually_ invited.”

Emily blinks several times at them all before her expression settles into a soft smile. “That’s okay – the more the merrier, I suppose.” She moves through the group towards him and greets Pietro with a kiss before slipping her arm through his. “Though I think I may need you to introduce me to everyone.”

He feels a wave of relief go through him – he doesn’t know why he was worried about Emily being overwhelmed. She is always calm and level-headed – something he appreciates very much in a partner as they are not qualities he is blessed with himself.

“This is my daughter, Luna,” he says, first, because she was originally the person Emily was supposed to meet. Luna smiles widely at Emily and does some sort of bizarre curtsy which only works because she is wearing a dress today – sometimes it is easy to forget that his daughter is a princess.

Pietro gestures towards Georgia and Jeanne – whom he almost forgot was there too because she had been so silent. “This is Georgia Dakei and Jeanne Foucault my…” he struggles for an accurate descriptor.

“Wards,” Jeanne cuts in smoothly. “We’re his wards; Pietro is our guardian in the absence of our parents.”

He frowns at the word which seems too impersonal but does not correct her. Emily looks surprised but smiles and greets them both nonetheless.

“And the boy is my nephew Thomas and the woman is my younger sister Lorna.” He finishes, waving a hand vaguely in their direction.

“Nephew?” Emily asks, curiously. “Wanda’s son?”

“Yep,” Thomas answers before Pietro can. “I mean… she’s _sort of_ my mum – I’m like her reincarnated son or something.”

Emily seems amused at his description. She tilts her head in slight consideration, “You’re a speedster too, I take it?”

He blinks. “Yeah… how’d you know?”

“Your mind is very fast,” she answers, and then decides to elaborate, “I’m something of a telepath.” She pauses, her eyes downcast slightly, “I hope that doesn’t make anyone uncomfortable…”

He frowns – he’d never considered that anyone might be uncomfortable with Emily’s powers. Had someone on their team said something to her? He hopes he’s never given her the impression that _he’s_ uncomfortable with them.

Emily’s fears are unfounded, however, because Luna lights up. “You’re a telepath? You can see emotions and stuff?” she turns to Pietro, a pout on her lips. “Dad, why didn’t you _tell_ me? Our powers must be so similar!” she then turns back to Emily, to explain. “I’m not a telepath, exactly, but I can _see_ everyone’s emotions – I see them as colours…” she deflates slightly, “it’s sort of hard to explain if you can’t see it.”

“No, I understand,” Emily tells her kindly. “I can see it in your mind.”

“Really? That’s _so_ cool!” Luna tugs on Georgia’s arm slightly, “Didn’t I tell you Georgia? Didn’t I tell you she’d be much cooler than dad?”

Georgia purses her lips but concedes that Luna _had_ told her that.

“That’s not hard,” Lorna says, a grin on her face that all younger siblings have had at one point in their lives. “Everyone is cooler than my brother – he’s actually quite boring.” She pokes him lightly, “but we love him anyways.”

He frowns. “I don’t think I am _that_ boring.”

Lorna raises her eyebrows. “You really are – remember when you were talking to me about the God of the Underworld’s dog being named Spot?”

“And when you took me and Luna to Colonial Williamsburg?” Georgia adds.

“He also watches Downton Abbey,” Jeanne says, biting her lip as if she is not sure she has a place in the conversation. He glances at her with mock betrayal and she smiles hesitantly.

“That’s true!” Georgia says, laughing and grabbing Jeanne’s arm, “And when you catch him watching it he’ll say –

“My sister enjoys it.” Jeanne finishes, trying and failing to hide a smile. Then a thoughtful expression crosses her face. “He also plays tennis, which is quite a boring sport, but he plays it against himself which I suppose is slightly more interesting.”

Emily – who so far had listened to all of this with good grace – lets out a surprised laugh. “I have to agree with you there, tennis _is_ quite boring.” She looks up at him. “Though I have to say I think I would enjoy watching you play tennis against yourself – it sounds like a recipe for disaster considering the amount of times I have seen you run straight into walls on missions!”

He grins. “The only reason you would have seen me run into walls on missions is if you were watching me.”

Emily flushes. “You _are_ quite handsome; you can’t blame me.”

He smiles, pleased, and Lorna laughs. “So this is why you quit X-Factor, Pietro? So you could join a team with pretty girls on it?” his sister turns to Emily, saying in a confidential way as if she is relaying a secret, “the closest person to a pretty girl on our team was Gambit so I can understand why he might have wanted to get away.”

“I mean, there was Danger – she offered to sleep with you, remember.” He says with a laugh.

“Danger is a robot,” Georgia explains to Emily.

“A robot?” Emily echoes, slightly confused. “And she offered to _sleep_ with you?”

Lorna shrugs. “It makes more sense in context – well, slightly more sense, anyway.” And then she adds – to Emily – as if she feels the need to clarify, “I didn’t sleep with Danger, by the way – robots are more Wanda’s thing.”

Emily laughs. She says to Lorna, “Wanda’s new boyfriend isn’t a robot, Pietro was quite pleased with that.”

“Wanda has a new boyfriend?” Lorna says, surprised. “You guys really tell me nothing, huh?” She directs the last part at Pietro – she laughs, but there’s a slightly hurt look in her eyes. He knows Emily must see it too – or feel it, he supposes – because she tenses as if she regrets opening her mouth.

Pietro feels bad the more he thinks about it – he and Lorna were really getting close when they were together in X-Factor. He feels almost as if he abandoned her – like as soon as Wanda was on good terms with him again he ran back to her, as if Lorna was just a placeholder all that time. Which isn’t true at all, but he is worrying now maybe that’s how it came across.

He realises that the conversation has moved on without him, and that Emily is telling his sister all about Jericho Drumm – Wanda’s boyfriend – which then leads into a conversation about their Avengers team.

“I haven’t been an Avenger very long – certainly not as long as Pietro has,” Emily says to his sister in response to a question he missed.

“Whatever she is saying, she is being modest,” he cuts in, “Emily is a much better Avenger – a much better hero, even – than I, no matter how long she has been at it.”

Lorna looks surprised to hear him say so – he supposes he is generally quite high and mighty about these sorts of things. He remembers how he had reacted outside of Emily’s hospital room and grimaces – he can’t believe he had the nerve to speak to Janet in such a way. She is a founding Avenger, and someone who has always been kind to him, and he hates how he had turned on her in anger.

Emily flushes at his praise, “I – that’s not true at all, Pietro!”

“Of course it is,” he says, because it _is_ true. He turns again to his sister, “Everyone on our… _her_ team, loves her. She is very kind and understanding of everyone and she would never end up in an argument with any of them which is much more than I can say for myself.” This time he addresses Emily, “And the control you exert over your powers is amazing as I know you have not even had them that long.”

He is rewarded with a shy sort of smile from Emily – he loves it when she smiles like that.

“ _Her_ team?” He knew Lorna would pick up on that – she always notices what he does not want to say. “Are you not on it anymore?”

“Ah,” he says, because he isn’t sure how much Emily knows about what happened whilst she was recovering in hospital. “Yes… Wanda made it clear that I was not wanted on their team anymore – not that I can blame them, of course, after what happened.”

But even if he does not blame them really, it still hurts how easily they tossed him aside. He knows the mistake he made was unforgivable – he will never forgive himself for what happened to Emily because of his arrogance – but there are others on the team who have frankly done worse; Wanda being one of them. Rogue is a mutant – does she not still hold animosity towards his sister for M-Day or has she forgiven her completely? And if she has, why not forgive him for his mistake? Why does it feel like he is held to a double standard for everything he does? _Why is everyone else around me worthy of trust and forgiveness but not I?_

Emily lays a hand on his arm. “Pietro, what happened with the Juggernaut wasn’t your fault.”

A tight expression crosses his face. “It was mostly my fault, and I am responsible enough to at least own up to that. I am trying to be a better person – trying not to blame others for my mistakes.”

Lorna watches them carefully – he can tell she wants to know what happened, but he does not want to speak about it in front of everyone, certainly not in front of Emily who is too good of a person to let him wallow in self-pity. His sister says, “If you’re not tied down to the Avengers anymore maybe we should start up our own team again.”

He blinks in surprise – perhaps he is not the only one who misses X-Factor.

“Oh, can we?” Georgia pipes up, excited – the children had been engrossed in their own conversation whilst Pietro and Emily were speaking with Lorna but clearly they had been still paying enough attention to them to catch what his sister suggested. “I miss being a superhero!”

“Me too,” Thomas agrees. “The Young Avengers are all off doing their own stuff now, but I just spend my time working a shitty job which makes use of my speed – I’d _much_ rather be kicking the ass of whoever the villain of the week is.” Pietro can read between the lines of what his nephew is saying, and he is struck again by how similar they are. Thomas’ teammates all have their own lives – a purpose outside of being a superhero – but his nephew doesn’t; being a hero is all he has. He’s all too familiar with the feeling.

“I think I would quite like that too, Lorna,” he tells his sister. “I expect you to be our leader, of course – you more than proved yourself leading X-Factor.”

A flash of pride shines in her eyes. “I – I was mostly joking but I guess if you guys all really want to then we could start a team again.” She tilts her head, considering, “I wonder if Harrison Snow still owns the X-Factor name…”

He snorts. “Well if he does we can hardly buy it from him – he’s a billionaire.” He shrugs, “Snow’s a bit of an eccentric but he was quite agreeable, we should just go back and work for him.”

“So you’re serious?” Lorna asks him, narrowing her eyes as if she thinks Pietro is about to reveal he’s messing with her. “You really wanna start up X-Factor again?”

“I don’t see why not – Thomas and Georgia wish to be on a team again and you and I are not held back by commitments to any other teams.” He turns to Jeanne, “What about you? Would you like to join us?”

Jeanne looks surprised to be asked but hides her expression quickly. “I am not opposed to the idea,” she says, carefully.

“Well, there you go,” he tells Lorna with a smile. “I’m sure you must have Snow’s details lying around somewhere – go call him and tell him he can have his team back.”

Emily nudges him teasingly. “Aren’t you going to ask _me_ to join?”

He blinks in surprise. “I assumed you would wish to stay with the Avengers,” he says.

She shrugs. “I like the Avengers but it’s not as if I’m particularly attached to any of them – except for _you_ , of course. So if you’re leaving I might as well follow, hmm?” Emily says this all casually as if it should be obvious she should want to follow him into whatever venture he has thrown himself into this time around. He smiles slightly at her – he is not used to people wanting to be around him.

“I – I mean… if you’re sure, that is – I wouldn’t want you to –” he trips over his words slightly, but Emily reaches up and silences him with a quick kiss.

“Of _course_ I’m sure,” she tells him. And then she turns to his sister, “That is, assuming you will have me, Lorna?”

“Of course!” Lorna grins. “I’d love to have another woman around – especially one who would be willing to listen to all my stories about Pietro embarrassing himself. Stories of which I have many, I assure you.”

“If you’re all finished discussing that,” Thomas says, loudly, “I hope we can go get something to eat – Georgia lured me here under the false pretence that we’d be having lunch.”

“Yes, I think that would be a good idea, don’t you, Pietro?” Emily says.

He agrees because that had been the original plan anyway; of course, he had planned for only three of them to have lunch and now there is seven of them, so instead of going to the small café he had intended, they walk to a local restaurant nearby.

“I have to admit, Pietro, I didn’t know your family was so big!” Emily tells him as they walk to get lunch. She still has her arm linked through his and is leaning into him slightly, so she is pressed comfortably into his side. “I assumed Wanda and Luna were your only relatives – you never mentioned anyone else.”

“I am not very good at speaking about myself,” he says, apologetically, “and I am sorry that they accosted you like that – I hope you were not overwhelmed.”

“Oh, I didn’t mind,” Emily says, easily, “it is nice to see you so relaxed around so many people – you aren’t like that around the Avengers, you know.”

“I’m not?”

“No,” she says, thoughtfully, “you are… tense – uncomfortable – you think that you must always prove yourselves to them and it means you are never relaxed, never content.”

“A lot of the time I _do_ have to prove myself to them,” he tells her, honestly. “I have made countless mistakes and most of my time is spent atoning for them.”

“But you shouldn’t have to!” she tells him, slightly impassioned. “You have been one of them longer than most others on the team! You are always trying to do the right thing, and sometimes you fall short but that doesn’t mean you should have to keep proving yourself over and over again to them!” She sighs, “Wanda told me what happened when I was in hospital – I have to say that I was probably quite rude to her. I was upset that they had treated you so dismissively – like you weren’t their friend or – in Wanda’s case – her own family.”

Quietly, he says, “It is not as if my treatment was not deserved, you nearly _died_ because of me, Emily.”

She stops them in the middle of the street – the others are ahead of them and walk on without noticing – and cups his jaw with her hands. “Pietro, what happened was an accident – a terrible accident, but an accident no less. It was not all your fault and I do not blame you.” She runs a hand along his cheek, “You might forget that I can sense your thoughts – they are so fast that I cannot even read them, really. So whilst the others will not understand, I do. You think faster than you can comprehend. You cannot sit down and plan something like the others do – you act on instinct and you realise the mistakes too late. It’s not your fault, it’s not even in your control – it’s just the way your powers work… I expect your nephew would be able to tell you the same.”

Pietro is slightly in awe of Emily. She is so _good_ and _understanding_ and _kind,_ and a part of him wants to ask her what she sees in him because he is _none_ of those things. He would never dare to ask, though – if he did then maybe she would realise how much better she deserves, and he is much too selfish to let that happen.

“You cannot begin to understand how much I appreciate you,” he tells her, “I find it so hard to express myself – to make others around me understand how I feel – but I never need to try with you, you always just _know_ … and not even because you are a telepath, you are just a good person.”

She smiles shyly, “I think my powers probably help a _little_ bit… but I’m glad you think so.” Emily leans in and kisses him softly. When she pulls back she says, “Come on, we should probably catch up to the others – you might have to run.”

* * *

Later, and they – he, Luna, Georgia and Jeanne – are back home. Lunch had been good, and Emily had enjoyed herself, throwing herself headfirst into getting to know his family. Luna and Georgia had quizzed her on half a million different trivial things, but she had not seemed fazed and had engaged whole-heartedly with them both. He had been busy discussing the possibility of restarting X-Factor with Lorna, with Thomas and Jeanne chipping in every so often.

Pietro is sitting in the living area when Luna, Georgia and Jeanne come in and join him. They sit together opposite him on the other sofa, and stare at him expectantly. He almost feels like he is up for another interrogation.

“Pietro?” Georgia starts.

“Yes?”

“I heard what you said to Lorna,” she says. “About Emily being a better hero than you.”

He glances at her warily. “What about it?”

“I… I just wanted to say that I think you’re an amazing hero.” She shifts in her seat. “Remember when I wanted to meet my birth mom, but Lorna didn’t want me to? It was _you_ who convinced her that I should be allowed to go see her – and you said that if she wouldn’t let me, you’d take me anyway. And… and you took me in after the team disbanded – you gave me a _home_ and I will never forget that. Even if you don’t think you’re a good hero, I _know_ that you’re the best hero I’ve ever met.”

He is slightly floored. “I… that means a great deal to me that you think so, Georgia.” In response she comes over and gives him a quick hug before running off back to her room.

Pietro turns his attention back to Luna and Jeanne. He sees his daughter nudge Jeanne, and she clears her throat. “I like Synapse – she is kind.” She pauses. “I think that people like us need kind people around us, because we are not good at being kind to ourselves.” Another pause. “And I think that Georgia is right – you are a great hero, and the Avengers do not deserve you.”

She smiles hesitantly at him and he smiles back. “Thank you, Jeanne.” She does not hug him like Georgia did – he gets the feeling she has had enough social interaction for today – and leaves the room too.

Then it is just his daughter.

“Is there something you wished to tell me, Luna?” he asks, because she must have told the others to leave the room for a reason – or, at least, that’s why he assumes they left.

Luna takes a deep breath. “I know that I live with mom and I love her – I do – but I wanted to tell you that you deserve better than what you had with her. I know the two of you like to say that what happened to your marriage was your fault, but it wasn’t, not really. _She_ cheated on _you_. _She_ was the one who threw what you had away, and no matter how many times she points out that you were a bad husband will ever make up for the pain her betrayal must have brought you.” She looks up at him, “I just want you to know that you deserve to be happy. Don’t let what happened with mom hold you back.”

He closes his eyes. “Luna, come here and let me hug you.”

She cracks a bright smile and skips over to him and he stands up so that he can hold her properly in his arms. The top of her head reaches just above his stomach, and he marvels over how she has grown since the last time he saw her. He strokes her blonde hair gently. “Luna, you have no idea how much I love you, truly. No matter what happened between your mother and I, it has never changed how much I love you. Our marriage was a mess, yes, but it brought you into this world and I will _never_ regret that.”

“I love you too, dad,” she mumbles into his side. “I’m sorry I don’t get to see you as much you want.”

“It’s okay,” he tells her. “You’re here now.”


End file.
